Stress Relief
by Kamari Targaryen
Summary: Birthday gift for Wish I Was A Pirate. Duncan is bored, stressed out, and alone. Gwen is in the same boat. Needless to say, they find relief in each other (with help from a certain green herb). Slightly AU. Rated M for drug use and language. Gwuncan.


**I own nothing. Total Drama is the property of Teletoon Inc. and its creators.**

**This is a birthday gift for Wish I Was a Pirate. Happy Birthday dude!**

* * *

It was the dead of summer and Duncan was bored out of his mind. It had been months since he'd done anything even remotely exciting and the boredom was starting to drive him insane. Worse than the boredom was the stress of trying to find something, anything, to do. It was a stress like Duncan had never known before and he had spent several stints in juvie for various, alleged crimes. The stress was wearing Duncan's nerves thin, to the point where almost anything was sure to set him off and send him into a crazed frenzy where anything was possible.

But the stress and the boredom weren't the worst afflictions Duncan was feeling. No, worse than both was the loneliness. Duncan hadn't seen, nor spoken to, any of his friends since before his last stint in juvie. He had barely spoken with his own family since being released. It was like they had all just abandoned him, leaving him to fend for himself in a harsh, unforgiving world. Not that Duncan really cared. He hadn't needed them before and he didn't need them now, but it still felt lonely without them. He couldn't explain it, but the loneliness was like a ceaseless hunger, constantly gnawing at the pit of his stomach.

But all of that was about to change, with the help of a girl Duncan had never met before and a certain green herb.

* * *

The sun was beating down mercilessly as Duncan made his way to the local park for the final day of the annual Battle of the Bands contest. Under normal circumstances he wouldn't have even thought about attending this crap-fest, but his infinite boredom had finally driven him to leave the house. And, with nothing else to do, he had found himself wandering towards the god-awful sounds emanating from the park.

This wasn't the first time Duncan had attended the Battle of the Bands, but it would likely be his last. He had actually played in a band that had competed at this dumbass excuse for shitty bands to show off their "talent" several years earlier. That show had been a complete disaster however and Duncan had vowed to never support the contest again. But again, the utter lack of anything better to do had driven him to bite the bullet and crash this lame party.

"Damn it all." he muttered, as he entered the park, scanning the area for any sign of his friends. They were there, of course, though none of them seemed interested in even looking at him, let alone inviting him to hang out.

"Typical." he muttered again, heading for the refreshments. "A guy spends a couple of stints in juvie and all his so called friends leave him in the dust."

He shrugged, deciding he didn't care, and bought a plate of curly fries and a soda from the concessions vendor. He wanted to get something stronger, but he doubted the vendor would sell booze to an underage ex-con, despite the vendor's alleged reputation for buying alcohol for minors.

Disappointed, Duncan moved to find a seat in the crowded amphitheater that dominated the center of the park. To his disgust the place was packed with parents, pre-pubescent teens, and younger siblings, all of whom had shown up to support the deluge of crappy, wannabe metal, punk, and screamo bands that had shown up for this years contest. There were, undoubtedly, a few contestants who were playing other types of music, but Duncan didn't want to waste time thinking about that shit. It was bad enough thinking about the bands that were killing his favorite genres of music.

The show had already started by the time Duncan finally found a seat, and just as he'd suspected, the first band was some pop-punk group with a twelve year old singer whining about some fake problem or another.

_Yeah, come back and sing when you've scraped the bottom of the shit barrel, kid_, Duncan thought, munching on his fries. _At least then you'll actually have something to complain about._

Duncan absolutely hated how these little kids complained about life, when they hadn't gone through anything close to hell. They all had loving families, clean homes, perfect lives, whereas he had everything that was the exact opposite. Not that he had it the worst of all, but most of these people had lived far better lives than he had. _And yet, they bitch like they've been through hell._ It was enough to make Duncan decide that coming to the show had been a bad idea and he was just about to leave when he saw her, a pale girl with black and teal hair, who was hovering around the fringes of the amphitheater as though she was nervous to get too close.

Duncan was struck by her beauty and for a moment all he did was stare, mesmerized by the sight of the girl. The sound of a gruff voice broke the idyllic scene, bringing Duncan back to his senses in a rush of anger and annoyance.

"Hey, sit the hell back down." a hard looking man was saying. "Some of us are trying to watch the show and you're blocking the damn view."

"Yeah, yeah, calm down you cranky old bastard." Duncan muttered, moving to retake his seat. A glance from the man made him reconsider however and he quickly vacated the premises before a fight broke out.

As he exited the amphitheater he glanced around, looking for the girl, only to find that she had disappeared into the crowd. Disappointed yet again, Duncan headed for the park's exit, deciding he would rather be bored than endure any more of this shit. But just as he left, the girl caught up to him, stopping him short of the exit.

"Hey, hold on a minute." she said, her tone annoyed. "Why were you staring at me?"

"I...uh...I'm not...I mean I wasn't staring at you." Duncan muttered, trying his damnedest to keep his composure.

"Actually, yeah, ya kinda were." the girl said, her tone sarcastic.

"Okay, okay, so I was staring at you." Duncan admitted. "What's the big deal? Don't other guys stare at you?"

"No. Not really." the girl admitted. "All most guys do is make mean jokes about me being goth. Not that I pay any attention to them, mind you, but you are only the second guy who has ever looked at me like that."

That took Duncan by surprise and he responded with "Huh, never would have guessed that. So, what's your name?"

"Gwen." the girl answered. "Gwen Carroway." She smiled then, her gaze meeting his.

"It's nice to meet you Gwen." Duncan said, extending his had. "I'm-"

"Duncan Reed." Gwen finished, grinning. "I know all about you."

"You...you do?" Duncan asked, confused. "How do you know all about me?"

"I read." Gwen replied, still grinning. "And you pop up in the paper every few months or so, for some offense or another."

"Great." Duncan muttered. "So, you know me as a criminal and all that bullshit. I'm a lot more than just what's written about me, y'know?"

"Trust me Duncan, I know." Gwen said. "But people need a villain and you've filled that role quite well over the past several years. What with your repeated arrests for theft, vandalism, and arson, not to mention your seemingly inexhaustible appetite for fights and public disturbances."

"Okay, you've got me there." Duncan admitted, reluctantly. "But there's a reason I do all of that shit, you know."

"Of course there is." Gwen said. "There's reason why each of us does anything. And I know your reasons Duncan, better than most."

"How? We just met a few minutes ago." Duncan said. "How could you possibly know what my fucking reasons are?"

"Because, they are, I suspect the same as mine." Gwen said, her gaze meeting his again.

"Wait, what?" Duncan asked. "Your reasons?"

"Yes, my reasons." Gwen said. "Parents who don't understand you, people who avoid you because you're different, people who think you're weird. I know what it's like to feel that stigma, trust me. We're not so different, you and I, and our similarities go deeper than our colored hair and our preference for black."

"Huh, I guess you're right." Duncan said, his eyes traveling up and down Gwen's figure as he spoke. "But you got one thing wrong. My parents don't just not understand me, they hate me. Well, my dad does, anyway."

"Yeah and I know what that's like." Gwen said. "Although for me, it's not so much that my parents hate me or don't understand me. It's more that they drive me crazy. They're always making assumptions about me and hoping that this is just a phase, but it's not. This is who I am, now and forever."

"What about other people?" Duncan asked. "How do they look at you?"

"Pretty much the same way." Gwen replied. "They whisper behind my back like I can't hear them, but I do. I hear everything."

"Same for me." Duncan admitted, more freely this time. He didn't know why, but there was something about Gwen that made it easier for him to admit his feelings.

"It's so frustrating, isn't it?" Gwen asked, a note of pleading in her tone.

"Yeah, it really is." Duncan answered. "It's frustrating and stressful and bullshit, and I'm sick of dealing with it."

At that, Gwen grinned and dug around in her beat up leather tote bag, finally emerging with a brilliant green pipe and a bag of weed.

"Holy shit, you smoke weed?" Duncan asked, caught off guard.

"I do." Gwen said, nodding. "This is how I deal with it. The stress. The frustration. The boredom. Life in general. I find that everything is a little less shitty after a few hits of the fertile green. Y'know, not completely better, but at least more tolerable."

Duncan grinned and then started laughing, his outburst drawing stares from several people nearby. He ignored them however and continued laughing, until Gwen punched him in the shoulder. "Ow, what was that for?" he asked, perplexed.

"For drawing unwanted attention." Gwen said, scowling.

"Sorry." Duncan muttered. "It's just that, everything you've said makes perfect fucking sense. I've never thought about any of it like this before, but it all makes perfect sense."

"Yeah, that's great Nostradamus." Gwen said, her tone sarcastic. "Look, do you wanna smoke this with me or not?"

"What here?" Duncan asked, stunned. "Sorry babe, but I've had too many run ins with the law to risk that shit."

"No, not here." Gwen muttered, rolling her eyes. "I have a special place in mind."

Duncan nodded and Gwen led the way to the far side of the park, into the part that was still more forest than city park.

They walked for several minutes before Gwen finally stopped in front of a well concealed clearing, ringed with trees. Duncan stared for a moment, taken aback by Gwen's choice of location, before whispering, "I never knew this place was here."

"Yeah, most people don't." Gwen said. "I found it by accident one day while I was wandering around the park, trying to kill time."

"And you've smoked here before?" Duncan asked.

"Yeah, all the time." Gwen answered. "There are several other people who smoke here as well, but none of them will be here tonight, so we'll have the whole place to ourselves."

Duncan grinned at that and said, "Well alright. Let's get this party started."

Gwen nodded and loaded a bowl before passing the pipe to Duncan. "You take the first hit." she said, her eyes gleaming in the fading light.

Duncan obliged and lit the bowl, inhaling deeply of the sacred smoke, his whole body relaxing as the smoke filled his lungs. "Yeah, that's the stuff." he said, passing the bowl back to Gwen, who grinned again as she took her first hit.

"I got it from a guy named Geoff." Gwen said, passing the pipe back to Duncan. "He assured me that it's the best weed on the market right now."

Duncan just nodded, too overcome by the euphoria flooding his brain to respond. He had never felt more relaxed or happy in his life. All of his frustrations, stress, and worries were simply gone and he felt like he could do anything.

It seemed Gwen was having the same experience, for she was staring at him with a glazed look in her eyes, like she was seeing him through the mirror of a dream.

Hours (and several bowls) later, Duncan found himself sprawled out, flat on his back, staring up at the black sky as the stars wheeled overhead. He could feel the fertile green within him now, making the edges of the world seem less harsh, and he felt an inexplicable urge to laugh, which he countered by saying, "The stars, they're so pretty."

Gwen giggled beside him, her breath warm on his neck. "Yeah, they shine like little fireflies trapped in tar." she whispered.

"Little tar fireflies." Duncan repeated. "So shiny, so bright, so pretty."

He sat up then, his head spinning, but before he could say or do anything else, Gwen caught him by the shirt and pulled him towards her.

"Kiss me." she whispered, her voice thick and fuzzy.

"Wha-what?" Duncan stammered, shaking his head.

"Fucking kiss me." Gwen repeated. "On the lips."

Duncan nodded and before he could think twice, he was kissing her, their mouths gnawing hungrily at each other, as though they were wild animals. Gwen's fingers twisted in the fabric of his shirt, her nails scraping his back. He didn't feel them though and before he knew it, his shirt was gone, though he had no idea where. Soon Gwen's shirt was gone as well, though Duncan had no idea where it had gone either. All that mattered was Gwen and the moment they were in. Everything else was obsolete.

And in that moment, as they lay entwined in the dark, Duncan had an epiphany. This was what true relief felt like. This was what he had been searching for his entire life. This was perfect. The stress, loneliness, and boredom were gone, replaced by something new. And in that epiphany, Duncan knew he had found a new path to walk.

**End.**

**A/N: Well George, there's your gift. Hope you like it. I showed this idea to James before I wrote it and he seemed to think you'd like, so I hope he was right. I'm not sure if it fulfills your requirement of "no cliches" but I tried my best to avoid them. Anyway, this idea comes from a suggestion by my brother (partially) as well as my own warped imagination. The point was that Duncan and Gwen always seem to catch shit for being who they are and this is how they choose to relieve the stress of dealing with all the naysayers who rag on them. That's really all I've got for this one so, Happy Birthday George! Hope you enjoyed. Cheers from your pal, KT.**


End file.
